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Show 105 Young male ( 41,129, Cuba^ Dr. Gundlach):- Above dark vandyke-brown, the feathers bordered inconspicuously with dark rusty; tail dull slate, narrowly tipped with ashy- white, and crossed with four broad bands of dusky, almost equal to the slate in width; beneath, white, much tinned on breast and tibiae with reddish- ochraceous; thickly striped with umber- brown, except on crissum, the streaks on throat narrow and cuneate, those on breast broad, and on sides changing into broad transverse spots or bars; tibice thickly spotted transversely with more reddish, nearly rufous, brown; larger lower tail- coverts with narrow shaft- streaks of black. Occiput showing much concealed white, the eudsof the feathers deep black. Wing, 8.60; tail, 7.50; culmeu, 0.68; tarans, 2.50; middle toe, 1.70. Young female( 41,128, Cuba, Dr. Gundlach):- Similar, but more thickly striped beneath, the dark markings about equaling the white in extent; whole sides with large transverse spots of umber, cuneate along shafts. Wing, 10.50; tail, 9.50. Remarks.- In regard to its relationship to its nearest allies, N. cooperi and N. pileatus, Mr. Lawrence ( I. c. p. 8) remarks of this species:-" A very marked feature in the adult of this species is the ash- color of the breast and sides, which does not exist at all in cooperi; the under surface is less marked with white than in that species; the thighs are of a nearly uniform rufous, which in cooperi are conspicuously barred with white; in the latter the under wing- coverts are white, with longitudinal spots of rufous- brown, whereas in gundlachi they are rufous barred with white. From A. pile-aim, as figured in PI. Col. pi. 205, it is also very different; the adult of that species has the top of the head dark slate, the upper plumage of a rather light slate- blue; wings, dark slate; tail, with four dark bands, whitish between; the under plumage pale whitish- blue; thighs, deep rufous; no appearance of bars on any part of the plumage; under tail- coverts, white; bill, bluish, under mandible yellow at the base; legs, yellow." In the " History of North American Birds' 7 ( iii, p. 223, footnote), this species is considered to be a geographical race of N. cooperi; and M r. Sharpe, in his great work, the " Catalogue of the Accipitres^ or Diurnal Birds of Prey, in the collection of the British Museum v ( p. 137, footuote), remarks that it " will probably prove on examination to be identical with the small, richly- colored form of A. cooperi, called by Swainson A. mexi-canu* 79. We have shown before that the latter is not entitled to recognition as even a race, though we bad previously accorded it that rank, while Mr. Sharpe ( torn. cit. p. 137) more properly places it among the synonyms of X. cooperi. In regard to the N. gundlachi, the erroneous conclusions of both authors were the result of lack of specimens for comparison, and too hasty examination of published descriptions. The above description of the adult, copied from the original paper by Mr. Lawrence ( Annals of the Lyceum of Natural History of New York, vii, May, 1860, p. 252), shows clearly the perfect distinctness of this Cuban species from its North American ally as well as from all other species of the geuus. List of specimens in United Slates National Museum, i lI i £ 1A l i t* « » wL.. 4U » 1 6 fe • a a 5 i c . * 2 9~ < M. « J m 1 H £ 5JUT. Locality. When collected. From whom received. Collected by- Ho. 2 2 |